Studies show that healthier lifestyle can prevent about 40% of cancer cases

Studies show that healthier lifestyle can prevent about 40% of cancer cases

Study at Cancer Research UK has found that healthier life style can prevent about 40% of cancers in women and 45% of those in men. The researchers stated that that around 134,000 people
can spare a cancer diagnosis if they take more care of themselves. This extra care involves less drinking and smoking and losing their weight by jogging and brisk walking.

According to the most comprehensive study of the risk factors at the Cancer Research UK, the biggest risk factor that can cause cancer, is smoking, which caused 23% of cancers in men and
15.6% in women.

Putting on too much weight is proved to be a greater risk for breast cancer in women than drinking alcohol, and diet accounted for 9.2% of all cancers if a lack of fruit and vegetables,
too much salt and red meat and too little fibre were all included. Obesity and being overweight cause 5.5% of cancers overall. It rose to 6.9%, 10,800 cancer cases, in women compared to 4.1% in men, 6,500 cases.

On the other hand, alcohol causes 4% of cancers overall, 4.6% in men and 3.3% in women, while extensive sunbathing and use of sunbeds cause 3.5% of cancers. Another risk factor of cancer
is failing to eat the recommended five portions a day of fruit and vegetables, which causes 6.1% of cancers in men and it dropped to 3.4% in women.

Prof Max Parkin, an epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK, stated, “Many people believe cancer is down to fate or ‘in the genes’ and that it is the luck of the draw whether they get it.
Looking at all the evidence, it’s clear that around 40% of all cancers are caused by things we mostly have the power to change.”

The Queen Mary-based Parkin added, “We didn’t expect to find that eating fruit and vegetables would prove to be so important in protecting men against cancer. And among women we didn’t
expect being overweight to have a greater effect than alcohol.”

Some other risk factors involved in causing cancer include infections, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, occupations such as working with asbestos, lack
of physical exercise, radiation, lack of breast feeding and using hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

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Posted by Zeeshan Gohar on Dec 8 2011. Filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry